Pentax 645 N or 645 N II (no- MLU vs built MLU)

[Warren Flipy]

Hello to all

I am an happy owner of a fantastic Pentax 67 II. The problem is that even with a sturdy tripod, delay timer, mirror up... I do not get sharp images when using a tele lens.

I am considering buying a second body that I can use 67 Pentax lenses. My choice is between 645 N (no MLU) and 645 N II (with built-MLU)

Somewhere I read that the MLU is unnecessary given that the damping of the shutter curtain in 645 N's is much better than the 67II, and that even without MLU is possible to obtain perfectly sharp pictures (with tripod) in long exposures (1/15, 1/8, 1/4, etc. ...).

If someone on this board frequently used Pentax 645 N I would like to know your opinion. Since Ebay is relatively easy to get these bodies at a good price. Version II is more expensive and harder to get.

Thank you very much to all for your attention.

[photodan]

I owned Pentax 6x7 cameras (including the last model - II) in the past. I found the same problem you have encountered, even with non-telephoto lenses. I was able to mitigate the problem by triggering the Mirror-up and then placing both hands on the top of the camera (mounted on a tripod) and pushing down steadily, using a finger on my right hand to gently trigger the shutter release. This gave better results than using a cable release - very often tack sharp as seen by viewing transparencies with a high power lupe.  Apparently the vibration from the shutter is significant.  The longest lens I used was the 300mm, but mostly I used the 200mm and the technique I described was very effective - even for exposures as long as 1/2 second.  I'm not sure about the 300mm as I didn't have it very long before it rolled off a high platform and dropped onto  concrete, but that's another story.

So, if I were you I would try the technique and see if it works for you. It's best to take at least a couple of exposures of the same object (if that is applicable for your subject), and then pick the sharpest one. I got pretty good at it after some practice, and sometimes even today I wish I had kept the camera.

I never owned any of the 645versions but I did read in many places that the mirror mechanism is much smoother than the 6x7. I would expect that the shutter would be smoother as well. The bottom line is that most 645 shooters that I'm aware of didn't have nearly the problem that the 6x7 has. But again, I don't have any personal experience with the 645.

Dan

[Iwill]

I own a Pentax 645N, and have never had a problem with camera shake without mirror lock-up.  Michael put my mind at rest back in 2001 or 2002 when he tested a Pentax 645NII to determine whether there was any camera shake without using the MLU.  His conclusion?  That MLU was not needed.  Here is the link to that article:

   http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/645-mlu.shtml

Hope this helps!

Irv

 

[DanielStone]

Another benefit that the NII model provides over the 645N model is that it has a custom setting that will allow 16 frames/roll(120) or 32/roll(220). That for me was another reason to go with the 645NII model, despite the price difference...

Film isn't getting cheaper, nor is PROFESSIONAL development by a good lab. Getting more frames/roll saves me money in the long run... Especially when shooting 220 film, its like using a BIG 35mm camera

Dan

[Warren Flipy]

Thank you very much to all for intervention in this thread.

The idea expressed by photodan is a great idea and I think I will do them, but not sure of its results due to my poor pulse.

Finally I think I will by the NII, especially the possibility of obtaining 16 frames instead of 15.

Again, thank you very much to all for the valuable help.

Kind regards.

[Bernd B.]

Generally Pentax 645 is known to have the smoothest mirror slap of all MF SLR cameras ever. They just did their homework after their experience with the 6x7, which has the heaviest mirror slap of all MF SLR ....

OK, I don´t know about the Hy6....

Bernd